Boot Camp Cadet Dies at Fla. State Park

New York Times/August 13, 2006

North Miami -- A 13-year-old cadet at a
private military
academy died Saturday during an orientation camping
trip, the school's
principal said.

Authorities rushed the child from Oleta State Park to
a hospital, where
he was pronounced dead, North Miami police said.

The cause of death was undetermined, pending a medical
examiner's
report, police said. No additional information was
released.

The boy was one of 33 cadets attending the Back to
Basics Christian
Military Academy's Training and Leadership Corps
campout. The students,
in grades 4-10, had been camping since Wednesday,
Lynda Browne, the
school's principal and owner, told the South Florida
Sun-Sentinel for
Sunday's edition.

The boy got out of bed in the middle of the night to
tell a drill
sergeant he didn't feel well, Browne said. He
collapsed on the way
to the restroom.

Browne said the boy's mother told her that her son
"wasn't the most
physical, strong or athletic child."

She said the academy subcontracts with Fort
Lauderdale-based Juvenile
Military Training and Leadership Corp. The camp is run
by certified
National Guard drill sergeants.

"The children get the very best of care," Browne
told the newspaper.
"Under no circumstances are our students brutalized,
nor are they
maligned verbally. They are treated with the utmost
respect."

Brown and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission did not
return messages Saturday from The Associated Press.

In January, a 14-year-old boy died after a
confrontation with guards at
a Panama City boot camp for juvenile offenders
operated by the Bay
County Sheriff's Office. Martin Lee Anderson died one
day after being
roughed up by guards.

His death remains under investigation. The state's
government-operated
military-style boot camp system was shutdown in May.

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